


Requiem for the Survivor

by MicroFox25



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amputation, But much later, Disabled Character, Drama, F/F, F/M, Human Trafficking, I'm not going to say them all because spoilers, Mention of abuse, Night Terrors, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts, Survivor Guilt, many aus packed into one, nsfw content later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2019-07-17 21:04:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16103759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MicroFox25/pseuds/MicroFox25
Summary: Samantha Hargrove woke up in this strange new world with one plan in mind. Find her son. With her twin at her side and her robot at her back, she left safety with this in mind, but things don't always go to plan. Can she lead her way through this disaster of a wasteland or will it swallow her whole right beside the hopes of ever finding her son?





	1. Nobody from the Past

**Author's Note:**

> I always liked the idea of the Sole Survivor not being the SOLE survivor. So I'm writing the story. I'm starting with fifteen chapters now, but it may end up being much more. I'm kind of making this up as I go along so we'll have to see how this plays out. None of the other chapters will be this short again, I promise.

_ War never changes. _ Sam didn’t learn that when her husband came home with an honorable discharge to try and make a happy family again. She didn’t learn that when her sister came back into her life after not seeing her for ten years. She didn’t learn that when her husband became an alcoholic and started to get his point across with his hands. Not when Ash bought a Mr. Handy for the protection of her and her newborn son. Not even when the warning siren went off making them all flee to the safety of the vault. While the words were engraved into her mind, Samantha Hargrove wouldn’t learn the true meaning of those words for a long time. When she did, though? That’s when it hit the hardest. 

-

She walked towards a the ruins of her home, hope slowly diminishing. Where… where was everything? The trees were dead, houses were caved in, people were missing. With how close the bomb was, she was surprised anything was still standing. How long ago was that bomb? Her skin was stiff as she walked, Ash by her side. “Everything’s gone,” Her sister told no one, just pointing out the obvious. Same looked at her twin.

They were just that; twins. Their hair was the same white, they skin the same ivory, their eyes the same silver. The only difference between them was the fact that Sam had marks on her skin where the pigment was faded, a prewar condition. 

“Are there people left?” She asked, looking at the flash burnt grass. “There were other survivors, right?”

“There had to be. There were other vaults.” Sam paused and turned to her sister. 

“You saw all those… people. All those bodies. What if they all were like that? What if every vault malfunctioned like that?”

“That’s impossible, Sam.” She grabbed her sister by the arms. “There were obviously others. Who else would have taken Shawn? Now stop with the pity and lets find my fucking nephew.” Same swallowed thickly and nodded. Ash was always better at keeping calm during everything.

Sam hadn’t seen Ash since they were both twelve. She had run away then and no one but Sam seemed to care. Sure Ash was a problem child, but she was still human, wasn’t she? So why had everyone just abandoned the idea that she would be found? Jessica and Henry Hargrove went from having a good child and bad child to just having a child and no one cared. When Sam opened the door, the last thing she was expecting was seeing a mirror image of herself, but there she was and she had hardly left Sam’s side since. 

“Let’s find him.” They walked into Sanctuary and towards the house before Sam noticed something shiny in the distance. “What’s… is that… Codsworth?” She started to jog so she could get closer and she couldn’t believe her eyes. “Codsworth!” The robot turned and all his eyes focused on Sam, then Ash who was getting close as well. 

“As I live and breathe!” He gasped, hovering closer. “Is it- Is it really you?”

“You’re still here? After all this time?” If Codsworth were human, he would have rolled his shoulders in pride. 

“A simple bomb isn’t enough to deter the pride of General Atomic’s equipment.” Sam felt tears welling up in her eyes.

“Where is everyone? Is this all there is?”

“I dare say, no more permanent residence seemed to come. Only brutes and ruffians. There is however people that come sometimes from Concorde.”

“So there are others.” Sam felt herself breath a bit easier. “How long were we down there?”

“A bit over 210 years, ma’am.” Sam felt herself stumble back, only to be caught by her twin. 

“It’s not possible. You couldn’t have possibly seen anyone coming in or out of the vault, have you?”

“You two are the first I’ve seen in all that time, unfortunately.” Sam cursed under her breath. “Perhaps someone in Concorde could help?” He suggested. I shall hold down the proverbial fort while you two are gone.”

“Thanks, Codsworth.” Sam sighed. “The neighbors, they were gun nuts, right?” She asked Ash. 

“So they’d probably have a weapon’s workbench.” She offered with a smile. We’ll deal with that first, then we’ll find Shawn.”


	2. Into the Unknown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I go through spurs of constant writing mixed with writing apathy, so I'm gonna be posting chapters quickly.
> 
> *I made a mistake so this is just a correction. Sorry for the confusion

As the twins made their way through a flock of ravens towards town, Sam heard the sound of gunfire. Ash pulled her down to a crouch so they could peak around the car. There were people on the ground shooting at a man on a balcony. They had passed by a gas station on the way down and had met a rather friendly dog.

Sam had walked up and pet him ignoring Ash’s seething words about how dangerous it would be. “What’s your name, boy?” She asked, crouching down to run her fingers through matted fur. She didn’t feel a collar. “So no name. Wanna come with us, boy?” The dog barked and started panting. Standing, Sam groaned and they started walking. The dog stayed by her side the entire time. “You’re well trained, aren’t you?”

In town, Ash was sneaking around the car to get a better look. “Who’s the good guys?” She asked as Sam followed. She shrugged and put her hand out, feeling the dog’s fur. Sam followed Ash until she tripped on something, falling to her hands to catch herself. Her hands landed in something wet and sticky, so she looked to them seeing crimson.

She gasped and threw herself back, making a commotion and catching the attention of the people shooting. They turned to the twins and began to shoot at them without even asking questions. Ash pulled Sam by the vault suit behind a car.

“Get your gun out!” She screamed. Ash started shooting as well.

“What are you doing?” Sam yelled.

“Saving our lives.”

“But they’re… those are people, too.” Ash looked at her sister.

“Do you think they are thinking that about us, or are they just attacking us?” Sam didn’t like it.

“I refuse to kill anyone.” She mumbled. “I’ll find a way inside without murder.”

“I swear to god, Sam. If you get me killed, I will kill you as i die.” Sam began to retreat and the dog started to follow.

“Stay with her, boy. She’ll need you.” He let out a small whine, but she patted his head. “It’ll be okay.” Circling around the building, she made it to the road right next to the Museum of freedom. _Nate was planning to go there before the bombs dropped_ , she thought. _He was going to talk about his time at war_. She shook her head as she made her way into the building while the other men were distracted. Ash could handle it. She’d been through hell before.

Inside, there were even more people with guns. “Damn.”

* * *

 

It was a miracle that she even made it to the door that the people were hiding before Ash finally got inside. Sam watched bitterly as Ash fought her way through the crowd, murdering as she went. When she had finally caught up, Sam was scowling.

“How can you do that?”

“What?”

“Just… murder. Without feelings. Or remorse.” Ash’s face twisted into one of absolute anger and she shoved Sam into the wall.

“Just because you got to live high and mighty being Daddy’s favorite doesn’t mean I got the easy life. My life was shitty and unforgiving and I had to survive.” Sam opened her mouth to say something- no doubt something rude, if she knew herself- but the door opened and they both looked at the now open doorway. A man stood there in colonial attire with the strangest gun Sam had ever seen. It was like a musket, but broken.

“Come in.” When they did, he closed the door behind them. “Thank you for getting here now. I don’t know how long we would have survived.” He pushed out his hand. “Preston Garvey. Commonwealth Minuteman.”

“Minuteman?” Ash asked herself. Sam nudged her sister.

“Now we’re traveling back in time.”

“Serving the people at a minute's’ notice. That’s our motto. Or, it was, until one of our own betrayed us.” Sam looked down to see that the dog had walked over to an old lady sitting on the couch. Beside her, a man was sitting on the ground crying and a woman was beside him pacing angrily. Sam walked over to the older woman first.

“I see Dogmeat found you well. I knew he’d find somebody.”

“So he’s you dog?” She asked, sitting down. She looked over to Ash, who was listening to Preston Garvey with rapt attention.

“No, Dogmeat’s kind of his own man. But I sense that he’ll follow you. He seems to like you.”

“Me?”

“Yea. He seemed to know you were coming. Me, I saw it.”

“ _Saw_ it?” Her weathered face gave a soft smile.

“It’s the chems, kid. They give ol’ Mama Murphy the Sight.” Sam felt her eyes widening.

“The Sight? What’s that?”

“It’s sort of like a super power. It’ll tell me what was, what will happen, and even what’s happening right now.” Her face twisted into that of terror. “And now I can see something’s coming.” Sam felt her body go cold with terror. “Drawn by the noise, the chaos. And it is angry.”

“Wh-What is it?”

Her look evened out so that it wasn’t so terrified, but she still had a glassy look in her eye. “I’m sorry, Kid. The Sight ain’t always clear. Believe me when I tell you it ain’t a raider.”

“Raider?”

“Those men that were trying to get to us. Worst of the bunch, they are. Don’t take lightly to not getting what they want. Those guys will attack anyone at any time.” Sam felt guilt racking her system. She’d left her sister with those people. She yelled at Ash and shamed her for defending herself.

Ash walked over and stood in front of them. “We have a plan. Sturges found a set of power armour.” She pulled up something from behind her back. “I asked Preston and this is called a pipe rifle. It’s rustic and crappy, but you have experience with long range weapons.”

Sam sputtered. “That was because Nate took me shooting. I don’t have any experience with moving or living targets.” Ash shrugged. “Now’s a good time to learn as any.” Sam took the rifle. “We’ll be back, she told Mama Murphy.

“I’m not entirely sure about that,” Sam mentioned as she walked with her twin. She told Ash what she had learned from Mama Murphy.

“And you believe her? Chems are drugs, Sammy. She’s probably high as a kite. Anyways, the plan is that I’ll be in the power armour down there and you’ll be up here with the rifle. It’ll be easy to pick them off for you since you won’t have to see their face.” Sam grumbled at her words, but followed. They walked out the back door which revealed a vertibird that had crashed through the ceiling. “Just like he said.” She mumbled as she walked over to the shell that was power armour.

“Huh,” Sam said, observing it closely. “With how Nate talked about them, I thought it would be bigger.” Ash rolled her eyes as she climbed into the giant suit. When it closed, the eyes lit up and the limbs started to move. She jumped and started walking in circles.

“This is cool,” Ash mentioned, sounding like she was talking through a microphone. “You should see inside of here someday. I can see all of the parts that make up the armour and the damage they have. It’s got a Geiger counter, too. Can also tell me how much of the power core is left. It’s only at about half power so we should get this over with.”

“Yea.” Sam sighed, swallowing the guilt rising in her gut. She wasn’t prepared for this.

“I’m gonna take the machine gun and go down there. You stay up here and pick off the ones I miss.” Ash cleared her throat. “Can you do that?”

“I can try. Preston is there. He’ll be a better backup than I would.”

“But I trust you.” Ash mentioned causing another painful spike of shame to flow through Sam. Ash took the gun off the vertibird and dropped down off the building. Sam knew from Nate talking that the armour protected from most damage from falling and explosions, which was why they were used by the military. Ash would be okay.

Crouching down, Sam leveled herself with the roof and looked down the shoddy sights of the rustic gun. _Like shooting a target._ She told herself. _Just like shooting a target. That’s alive. And probably has some sort of family. And doesn’t want to die anymore than the next person._ She shook those thoughts away. These were animals, weren’t they? Absolute savages who will kill anyone.

One was on the roof opposite her, so she let out her breath as Nate taught her, aimed, and pulled the trigger. A wet sloshing sound brought bile to the top of her throat as she looked away from the carnage. Aiming her sights down to the road, she could see Ash shooting at two different raiders. She aimed again, shooting at the closer one, clipping him in the arm. Ash took this opportunity to shoot him in the head, to which Sam gagged.

Sam stood and moved over the lip of the building to the other side so she could get batter access. Shots were firing from both sides and the lights from the guns were lighting up the street. Sam was getting better at suppressing the urge to vomit as she was protecting her sister, her only family left.

The splintering sound of metal grinding against metal made everyone in the area stop and look around. _Drawn by the noise, the chaos_ , Mama Murphy’s voice rang in her head. Another crack of metal had everyone looking at the source, which seemed to be a service tunnel dug into the road, likely from construction before the bombs dropped. One more crack and it flew open, one of the large piece of metal taking out a raider, splitting her in half from the force of it. From the wreckage, the largest creature that Sam had ever seen emerged. She didn’t know what it was, or could look from the past.

It was a beast of large claws and teeth, horns rising from it’s head almost like a bull. Sam had seen what cows had turned into- the mutated grotesqueness of what were now called brahmin- but this was nothing like it. This beast seemed to have scales all over its body from what Sam could tell and it looked as if it could cut a bus in half with just a single swipe.

When it turned, it seemed to focus its sights on the biggest thing in the area save for itself which happened to be Ash. “ASHLEIGN!” She screamed at the top of her lungs catching the beasts attention for a moment. “RUN!” She stood and ran herself over the lip of the building and back inside so that she could run through the museum and out to the balcony where Preston was shooting at raiders still.

“What the fuck is that thing?” She snapped, using the balcony edge to steady her shaking hands to shoot it. Every bullet seemed to be bouncing off of it as it charged at Ash who was running for her life. Sam noticed steam and hissing from the suit. “STAY INSIDE OF THE ARMOUR!” She turned to Preston. “Answer me! What is that!”

“It’s a deathclaw.” He said before taking aim again. “I don’t know what they were before all the radiation, but they’re hard to kill and will attack anything but their own. They’ll attack until either it’s dead, or you are.” Sam let out a shaky breath and took aim, planning to go for the eyes. That was always a weak spot.

The deathclaw lunged out and picked Ash up in the armor as if she weighed nothing. It looked around at her, no doubt looking for some sort of soft spot before it howled in her face and threw her bodily against the building. She crumbled and didn’t move again. “Ashleign!” She cried out.

She backed up, planning to go check on her sister, but a hand grabbed her arm. “It’s dangerous!” Preston said. “Kill it from here. She’s in power armour, she’s fine.” Sam snatched her arm away.

“If anything happens to my sister, anything wrong with her, I will do to you.” She aimed down the sights again while the beast was distracted with raiders and aimed for its face.

After what felt like hours, the beast finally dropped and Sam didn’t hesitate to go down. She ran out to the street. The Deathclaw killed all of the other raiders so she ran straight to Ash. Sam tore the helmet off, revealing Ash’s face, which was covered in dirt. Blood was leaking out of her nose and mouth. Unclipping the pieces, Sam pulled the parts off the armour slowly until it was nothing but the skeleton. Sam turned her back to her sister and pressed it to the skeleton, using her body to turn Ash over. Clicking a button on the back released the cage so she could pull her sister out.

Looking her sister over, there didn’t seem to be much external damage save for a cut on her arm. Maybe it was broken, she couldn’t tell right away. Lifting Ash as best she could with still weak limbs, Sam carried Ash to the museum and set her down with Mama Murphy by her side.

“She’ll be fine, Kid.” The older woman said, running her hand through Ash’s dirt soaked hair. The locks looked closer to brown now rather than white. “She just needs a doctor’s touch.”

“Where’s the closest doctor?”

“I’d say Diamond City,” Preston started, but his words died off when Sam scowled at him.

“I don’t want to hear a word from you. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that I have to hurt you how she was hurt.” She looked back to Mama Murphy. “Where can we go? Like, where is the best doctor?” Mama Murphy smiled knowingly.

“You’re adventure is just beginning, you know. It may seem like the end, but it’s not. I watched you two climb out of that ice box. You’re missing something, I can feel it. I don’t need the site to tell you where to start looking. Go to Diamond City. It’s hard to miss. Big light across the river.”

* * *

Ash woke up a bit later after everyone was gone and immediately coughed up blood. She looked around and noticed Sam sitting by her side. “What…”

“You passed out. Deathclaw. It was horrible.” ash looked around as she took in her surroundings.

“Those people?”

“Headed to Sanctuary. They’re gonna live there, I guess. I told them not to bother Codsworth or the home he was protecting because it was ours. I don’t care what they do with the rest of it.”

“I feel like I was hit by a semi.”

“You kind of were. Come on, let’s go home. We have a place to get you checked out, I just want Codsworth with us.”

“Aren’t I enough?” Ash defended.

“Your arm is broken and you are probably bleeding on the inside. No.” She helped her sister up and they made the slow trip back to sanctuary, Dogmeat by their side.

“Mama Murphy was right. About the prediction. She predicted the Deathclaw and it came.” Ash was silent for a long time.

“I know. I knew as soon as I saw it. She actually predicted the future.”

“People had been looking for a way to do that since the beginning of recorded time. Who knew that all it took was some chemicals in your brain.” Ash laughed, then groaned holding her side.

“I think I cracked a rib.”

They passed the bridge into Sanctuary, seeing Preston making what looked like rounds through the town. Sam ignored him entirely in favor of heading straight to Codsworth.

“Miss Hargrove.” He said.

“It… it doesn’t feel right. Using his name.”

“What name would you have me use?”

“Barnes. It’s my mother’s maiden name.”

“Very well, Miss Barnes. How may I be of assistance?”

“We’re going to travel a bit. Get out there and explore the wasteland. There’s actually a specific place for us to go. Ash is hurt, so I wanted to know if you wanted to go.”

“It’s been awhile since I’ve stretched my proverbial legs. I’d be delighted to join you on your quest.” She turned around to see Ash leaning up against the neighbor’s house, smiling softly as she talked to Preston. She tilted her head to the side and leaned in slightly. Sam couldn’t help but grimace.

Walking over, she snatched Ash by her good arm and pulled her along. When she was sure they were out of hearing distance, Sam hissed at her sister. “What are you doing?”

“I was just talking.” Ash defended. Sam stopped and face her sister.

“I know that look. You were flirting. Or trying to flirt. You just met them like an hour ago.”

“So what? Time means nothing anymore. I could die tomorrow, or he could, or you could. Why not build relationships now and not worry about it anymore?”

“I have to worry because it seems I’m the only one of us who is apparently mature enough to deal with this.”

“Deal with what?”

“The fact that we are fucked, Ashleign. There is nothing here anymore. Nothing. Not our home, our neighbors, or jobs, our lives. Nothing. It’s a fucking miracle that we are even alive right now.” Sam pointed at the hill. “We should be there, with them, with Nate. We should be dead as well. Just frozen meat popsicles lost to time.”

“Sam-”

“You didn’t see it, Ash. I watched that man kill my husband and steal my son and there was nothing I can do about it. I don’t know if he’s still alive out there, but my baby was taken out from under me and I was helpless. I don’t want to make friends or have relationships. I want my son. He’s the only thing I care about right now. We are going to find him.” Sam walked off without waiting for Ash’s next word.


	3. The Most Effective Detective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's looking like I might add up to five more chapters, honestly. I'm liking how this is going. Each chapter is going by as fast as I can type, but I don't think I'll be completely done by chapter fifteen.
> 
> 6/11/19 *Edit of the chapter because I can't keep track of anything. I'll be continuing this for a while, as well, since I've been thinking about this for a long time.

“What are you?” Sam asked the mechanical man. She and Ash fought their way to Diamond City- which was just the stadium turned into a shanty town- and found out they were looking for a man named Nick Valentine. They had Ash looked at by a rather rude doctor who put her arm in a sling and a bandage around her ribs and was sent to this vault to find this man.

He almost looked human if it weren’t for the chips falling out of his face and the parts of his almost skin missing. “I take it you’re not from around here?” He sounded as human as they come, but one of his hands was nothing but metal.

“You could… say that.” She mumbled, not sure where to look. Would it be rude to stare? Would this person actually care about that? “I’m looking for Nick Valentine?”

“In the flesh, so to speak.” Sam looked at her twin to see an equally confused face as she shrugged. “So what leads to this reverse damsel in distress situation?”

“I… uh… You’re a detective?”

“As best there is in the wastes, sure.”

“I’m looking for someone but I don’t have much information. I don’t know who took him. Or when he was taken.”

“I’ve dealt with less. Let’s get out of here and back to my office. We’ll talk about it there.” Together, the five of them made their way through the vault. Ash managed to talk down Skinny Malone and they made it out of the sewer manhole.

“I could use a drink,” Ash said, rolling her neck. Something popped loudly in her neck and she went rigid before her nose started to slowly leak blood again. She clapped her hand to her face, but Sam had already seen it. She turned to Nick. Is Diamond City the closest settlement?”

“No, there’s one place, but it’s not the most reputable location.”

“Is there a doctor there?”

“Dr Amari, yea.” Sam put her hand out in a waving motion as if to say _lead the way._ And Nick did. They walked through the ruins of her old town until a bright neon sign blinked into existence up ahead.

“Goodneighbor?” Sam opened the door first, looking in and around. “This was… Scollay Square, wasn’t it?” She mentioned, leading her sister in. A rather tall bald man walked up to them with a cigarette in his hands.

“Hold up, there.” He said in a gruff voice. “First time in Goodneighbor? Can go walking around here without insurance.” Sam recognized a scam when she saw one.

“Unless it’s _keep dumb assholes away from me_ insurance, I’m not interested.”

“Now, don’t be like that. I think you’re going to like what I have to offer. You hand over everything you got in them pockets or accidents start happening. Big, bloody accidents.” Sam pulled out the knife she lifted off one of the thugs she had just found and was ready to defend herself when a voice came out of nowhere.

“Whoa, time out.” It was gruff and sounded like he smoked a pack of cigarettes an hour. Suddenly Ash was standing a bit taller, though blood was still leaking out of her nose at a worrying pace. “Someone steps through the gate the first time, they’re a guest. You lay off that extortion crap.” A man walked over. He was covered in scars. The closer he came, the more on edge Sam was. He had no hair and he was wearing colonial clothes as well, just different from Preston. These ones were red and he had a flag as a belt tied around his waist. That couldn’t possibly be respectful, but Sam wasn’t really focusing on that though, as much as watching this man, whose eyes were entirely black.

“Why do you care,” The man asked. “They ain’t one of us.”

“No love for your mayor, Finn? I said let them go.” Finn walked over and pushed himself into the mayor’s space.

“You’re soft, Hancock. You keep letting outsiders walk all over us, one day there’ll be a new mayor.” Hancock just smiled.

“Come on, man. This is me we’re talking about. Let me tell you something.” He put his hand on Finn’s shoulder and pulled out a knife similar to Sam’s. Before she could react, Hancock had stabbed Finn in the stomach twice and let him fall to the ground. Sam was shaking by the time the body hit the ground. Hancock pulled out a rag and wiped the blade as he walked over. “You alright, sister?”

“I’m… fine. We’re fine. Thanks. I… thanks.” Hancock just smiled again.

“Good. Now don’t let this incident taint your view of our little community. Goodneighbor is of the people, for the people, you feel me? Everyone’s welcome.” Sam nodded. “Now what can I do?”

Sam pointed at Ash’s face. “Got a doctor?” Hancock smiled and pointed.

“The building called the Memory Den. Downstairs. Ask for Doctor Amari.” Sam nodded again and rushed her sister towards the direction she was sent.

* * *

 

While Ash was getting checked over again for whatever was wrong with her, Sam made her way to the bar. It was called the Third Rail and was made out of a collapsed in train station. She walked over to the Mr Handy there, whose eye stocks immediately looked at Codsworth. “The strongest drink you have.”

“Some vodka will do you fine.” He said in a British accent. Sam noticed the small British flag on his shell. “Five caps.”

“C- caps?” If he had a face, Sam was sure that this Mr Handy would be looking at him dryly.

“Miss Barnes, I do believe that it is the currency of this time. Preston Garvey gave you several for helping them out of that spot.” She dug into her pocket and pulled out a handful of bottle caps. Most were to Nuka colas of different brands, a few were from beers, and there were a rare few that were from Sunset Sarsaparilla. She pulled out five of them and slid them across the counter. She took the bottle and a shot glass and made her way to an empty table. A drifter from another table turned to her.

“Another merc here looking for Maccready? He’s in the back.”

“Maccready?” She seemed to think that it wasn’t worth her time, so she waved Sam off and went back to nursing her drink. Sam stood up, curiosity getting her better, and walked back to the back. “Stay by the bar, Codsworth.” The lights grew red as she went further back. Inside a small room with chairs and couches pressed against the wall, two men were talking to another. Sam didn’t want to intrude, but something kept her rooted in place. She stepped over the broken mannequin to get a closer look.

“Should we take this outside?” The man sitting down asked.

“It ain’t like that. I’m just here to deliver a message.” Sam sat down to wait. The man sitting looked directly at her before looking at the two people standing.

“I left the gunners for good, remember?” The man said, standing. Were she standing, Sam was sure he would have towered over her.

“But you’re still taking jobs in the Commonwealth,” the other man mentioned. “That won’t work for us.”

“I don’t take orders from you anymore.” He motioned to the other man who had been silent the whole time. “Why don’t you take your girlfriend and walk away while you still can?” Sam had to cover her face so as not to laugh out loud.

The talkative man stepped closer and pressed a finger into his chest. “The only reason we haven’t filled your body with bullet holes is that we don’t want a war with Goodneighbor. We respect other people’s boundaries. We know how to play the game. That’s something you never learned.”

“Glad to have disappointed you.”

“You can play touch all you want but if we hear you are still operating inside Gunner territory, all bets are off, you got that?”

“You finished?” The man set his hand to his side.

“Yea. We’re finished. “Come on, Barnes.” Sam perked up for a second. _Barnes?_ The man, who she assumed was Maccready, sat down as they walked away. He looked her up and down before walking through the door.

Sam stood as well. “Look, lady.” He said so she walked over. “If you’re preaching about the atom or looking for a friend, you’ve got the wrong guy.” Sam felt her brows crease. _The Atom?_ “If you need a hired gun, then maybe we can talk.”

“Seems to me like you’re out of business,” Sam mentioned, motioning back towards the door.

“Winlock and Barnes? I’m not scared of them. They’re just mad cause I left the Gunners.

“Gunners? Never heard of them. Who are they?”

“One of the biggest gangs in the Commonwealth.” Sam groaned. She had to deal with gangs still, too? Weren’t raiders enough? “Got a rep for being crazy, you know? So tightly wound you’d think they were a cult or something. Stuck with them for a while cause the money was good, but that was it. Never fit into that mentality. That’s why I made my break and started doing my own work.” He tilted his head in a way that was almost a show of curiosity. “What about you? How do I know I won’t end up with a bullet in my back?”

“You don’t. But that’s part of the risk of being a mercenary, isn’t it?”

“Can’t argue with that. Tell you what. Price is 250 caps up front. There’s no room for bargaining.” Sam bit her lip and looked in her pockets. It all rounded up to being about 125 caps. Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Sam hesitated.

“I’m not travelling alone. My sister is with me. Not here, but in Goodneighbor. Let me talk to her about it and get back to you.”

“Fine by me.”

* * *

 

Sam walked with the alcohol and two shot glasses to the Memory Den. She walked downstairs and through the doorway to the made-up doctor’s lab to Dr Amari. Ash was in one of the memory loungers in the room. The doctor seemed to not have noticed Sam entered the room.

“So are you an actual doctor with like an extensive knowledge or did you just pick up a scalpel and decide to wear a lab coat.” Dr Amari startled at that, clicking off the screen and turning around.

“I ask you please do not sneak up on me. I do very sensitive business and can be hunted by some very dangerous people.”

“Sorry, sorry.” She lifted the glasses. “Care for a drink?”

“On the job?”

“Right. Never mind. What seems to be wrong with her?” Sam set the bottle and glasses down and walked over, looking at the chamber.

“I…” Dr Amari paused, causing Sam to look over. “I don’t know.” Sam straightened her back.

“What do you mean. You’re the best doctor in the commonwealth.”

“It’s something in her brain. It’s not healing correctly. Any type of damage could paralyze her, send her into a coma, give her an aneurysm, or worse. Kill her. The least concern is the bloody nose at this point. Maybe before, this was solved easier, but now…” Sam felt tears pricking her eyes before she steeled herself.

“Then I’ll find another doctor.” Sam nodded to herself. “Let her out, please. We have work to do.” The chamber hissed and opened and Ash mumbled something before opening her eyes.

“Sammy?”

“Ash, you feeling okay?”

She rolled her eyes and groaned. “Peachy.” She helped her sister stand and together they walked out. “So what did the doc say?”

“She doesn’t know what’s wrong with you. It’s okay. We’ll find another doctor. Let’s go.” She led her sister down to the Third Rail and walked to the British Mr Handy. “Can you exchange things for caps?” Ash felt a hand on her shoulder.

“What are you looking to trade?” Sam pried the ring off of her finger with a wince and slid it across the counter. “How much for this? It’s solid gold.” The robot looked at it closely.

“Are you sure about this?” Sam nodded.

“It’s just a waste of metal at this point. He was an asshole. There’s no need to remember him.”

“But you two were married. You were in love at once point.” Sam nodded.

“I’ll give you 300 for it.”

“Perfect.” The robot pulled up a baggy that was filled. She opened it to see a large variety of caps just like in her pocket. “Thank you.” Sitting at a table, Sam motioned for Ash to sit. “I found someone I can hire. For protection heading through the wasteland. He was also a gang member, but I think gangs have a different definition now. I’m not entirely sure.”

“Sam.”

“He says he’ll do it for 250. At this point, we have 425 caps.”

“Samantha!” She snapped, getting her twin’s attention. “We have Codsworth. And Dogmeat. We don’t need him.”

“He’s a sniper. He’s been through here. He knows everything about the Commonwealth. And Codsworth is a cleaning bot. He’s not a Mr Gutsy.” Ash sighed.

“Where is he?” Sam pointed to the extra room in the back. “Let’s go.” They walked in and Maccready stood. Ash walked forward. She looked him up and down from his one-armed duster to his row of bullets attached to his leg. She looked at his hat and his face and even looked at his gun which was strapped to his back. “Is the 250 for all time or will we have to keep paying you once a month?”

“Once a month? Who would make you do that? It’s only once, like everything else.”

“What skills do you bring to the table?”

“I’m skilled with long ranged weapons. I know the general layout of the commonwealth. I can provide ammo if I find more than I can use at once point.” Ash scrunched her nose up at him.

“Fine.” She pulled the bag out of Sam’s hand and pulled out the caps, dropping them into MacCready's hand. There were so many that they had to sit there exchanging for a few moments before they were ready to move.

“We’re going to Sanctuary first,” Sam mentioned. “To take Codsworth.” Ash nodded, Maccready didn’t say anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be afraid to comment. It literally gives me life and motivation to keep going :)


	4. Chapter 4

Ash walked ahead of them with Codsworth and Dogmeat, so Sam hung back with Maccready. “When I heard  _ Sister _ I thought you meant like someone who is related to you, not an exact replica.” Sam laughed out loud at that.

“We’re identical twins. I was born only a few minutes after she was.”

“You sure? Are you sure one of you isn’t a synth?” Sam cleared her throat. 

“I think I’d know if Ash was a synth.”

“Maybe.” Sam shook her head. “So what’s the story with the robot? Aside from White Chapel Charlie, the only ones I’ve seen are Gunner ones which are green, and ones that attack anything.”

“He’s been with us since the beginning, I guess. Before the vault, before-”

“Wait, vault?” She looked at him dryly. 

“We’re both wearing vault suits. Where do you think we got them?” 

“Maybe you stole them, I don’t know.” 

“No, they’re from the vault we came from.” Ash stopped and turned sharply. 

“Sam, he’s a mercenary. He doesn’t need to learn anything about us. Stop talking to him.”

“Ash, we hired him, I can at least tell him about us.” She grunted loudly. 

“In this whole hour that we’ve been walking and you’ve been talking your head off, has he offered up any information about himself?”

“There’s nothing really that you need to know about me.” Maccready defended.

“Exactly. So he doesn’t need to know our entire life story either.” She pulled Sam up by her sending Codsworth to be with Maccready. 

“You don’t have to be rude,” Sam whispered. 

Ash didn’t even offer her a glance. “Let’s just find Shaun. After that, he won’t be necessary anymore and we can let him go.”

“So you hate him that much?” 

“Stop talking, Sammy. Just walk.”

* * *

At the bridge for Sanctuary, Preston met them. “Welcome back,” He said, shaking Ash’s hand. He only then noticed Maccready behind them. 

“He’s with us, Preston,” Ash confirmed. “What’s going on?”

“It’s my turn to do rounds. Why are you back? Weren’t you looking for your son?” Sam sighed.

“We don’t have much of a lead yet. We’re gonna go to Diamond City to talk to the detective there. We’re only here to drop off Codsworth.”

“Actually,” Ash started, “There’s something that I want to do. I’ll need some help.” Sam looked at her sister with confusion. She pulled her sister aside. “Sorry I didn’t mention it before. I just was in that memory lounger and saw us waking up in the vault. All those people, I want to bury them, give them a proper resting place.” Sam nodded. 

“Very well. Shaun’s probably not going anywhere.” Ash nodded as well and they talked to Preston.

“Up there. On the hill? There’s a vault there.” Preston nodded. “There are these… rooms. All of them have dead bodies. It was a cryo chamber. There was some kind of malfunction. Everyone but three people died.”

“Who?” Preston asked, looking between them. “Who survived? And would they even still be alive now? How long ago was this?”

“It was only a bit ago. We know for a fact that two of them are.” Ash started.

“Us,” Sam interrupted. “Ash and me. My son was stolen. My… my husband is up there. So far, we’re the only ones that we know that got out. We don’t even know how we survived when no one else did.”

“We… we can. I’ll help. I’ll get Sturges to help as well. Maybe Jun if he’s feeling up for it.” Sam smiled. Maybe Preston wasn’t so bad after all. 

It took three days. Sam and Ash were digging holes while Preston and Sturges brought the bodies down. Since they lacked proper room, they put two people to a grave before burying them. Codsworth found stones and engraved their names in them. When it finally the last grave- Nate’s last since they were going closest to furthest- he was the only one in it. Sam buried him and Codsworth went to get another rock, but Sam stopped him. 

“I don’t want his stone to have a name.” Codsworth hovered there next to Preston. Ash was at Sam’s side. Maccready was by Codsworth. Sam stood over his grave. She had taken his ring before he was buried and now it felt like it burned cold in her pocket. “I always hoped this would happen. For as long as he was home after the war, I always imagined myself standing over his grave.” She had spit on the newly packed dirt. “I won, you bastard.” and with that, she walked away.

* * *

_ Do you really think you’ve won? _ A voice told her. It was cold and wet and her joints burned. Her skin felt brittle and her lungs felt empty. Nate walked up in the heavy darkness and put his hands on her face caressing her cheek.  _ Just because I’ve died doesn’t mean you’ve won. After all, you’ve let your son get stolen, haven’t you? _

Sam woke up with a gasp and a small cry and Ash was next to her in an instant. Hands were holding her hair as Ash shushed her softly. “Everything is okay. I’m here.” Sam sobbed into her sister’s shoulder as the door opened. Sam looked up to see Maccready walking in, gun at the ready. “Everything is fine. She had a nightmare. He nodded and walked away. Sam stood off her sister and shook herself. 

“I’ll be back.” She walked out. They had used clothes and ruined mattress to make a sort of bed in the room she and Nate used to sleep in. She walked through the darkness using her Pipboy light to make her way to the pseudo graveyard. She stepped onto the fresh dirt. She turned her light off so that no one would bother her. 

She could imagine him behind her, hissing in her ear in drunken rambles, alcohol on his breath.  _ Do you think you could forget me? And what? Live in this world you don’t belong? _ He would be right. She doesn’t belong here.  _ What’s a lawyer to a lawless land? If not for me, you’d be dead. _ Sure he taught her how to shoot, but would she? Of course, she would. She could barely even shoot. If not for Ash, she would doubtlessly be dead.  _ Why should you get to live while the others died? _ His voice seethed, closer than just in her head anymore.  _ The Ables? Mr and Mrs Whitfield? Rosa and her son? Why did you get to live when she and her son were locked out of the vault to die by nuclear fire? Why should- _

“I know!” She screamed, wiping the tears from her cheeks, bitterly. Her knees felt weak and her breath was short. “I know that.”

“Know what?” Surprised, she jolted and turned around seeing Preston standing there. “I didn’t mean to intrude or eavesdrop. I was just making rounds.” Sam turned back to the unmarked grave. “You don’t have to talk to me, that’s fine. I just figured I’d open up the opportunity.” Sam didn’t respond. “Right. I know when I’m unwelcome. Just let me know if you want to talk. 

On the walk to Diamond City, Maccready was whistling. Ash was grinding her teeth the longer it went on. He started to whistle a song from the radio and Ash had to take a deep breath. 

“Why don’t we listen to the radio?” Sam offered, holding up her Pipboy. “Maybe then, you won’t have to whistle?” Maccready nodded, so she turned on Diamond City radio. 

“... _ Crazy, he calls me. Yes, I’m crazy. Crazy in love, I’d say.” _ Sam closed her eyes for a moment and sighed happily. 

“I remember this song. I danced with Shaun to this in the living room. It was Right as Nate was coming home from looking for work. Before he started to drink.” Ash looked at her, eyes bright.

“Tell me about it.” Sam tilted her head and furrowed her brows. 

“Ash, you were there. You were sitting at the bar.” Her face grew slightly pale and she laughed nervously. 

“I don’t remember. Cryo must have rattled my brain.”

“Well, we were dancing, Shaun on my hip. Nate walked in all grumpy, but when he saw us, his face softened and he walked over to dance with us.” Ash smiled softly. She looked back at Maccready, but he was looking at the ground as if it had insulted him. Sam shrugged and started walking straight again. When they made it to the signs of Diamond City, Sam relaxed. 

As they passed into the area that was the entrance, the giant metal door was closed. Sam stopped and looked around, noticing a woman in a red coat and a newsboy cap arguing with the announcer box. 

“What do you mean you can’t open the gate? Stop playing around, Danny, I’m standing out in the open for crying out loud.” A voice came on over the speaker. 

“ _ I’ve got orders not to let you in, Piper. _ ” Sam looked at Ash, who shrugged and they walked forward. “ _ I’m just doing my job.” _ She started waving frantically. 

“Ooh, doing your job? Protecting Diamond City means keeping me out, is that it? ‘Oh, look it’s the  _ scary _ reporter. Boo!”

“ _ I’m sorry but Mayor Mcdonough is really steamed, Piper. Saying that article you wrote is all lies. The whole city’s in a tizzy.”  _ She stomped her foot on the ground light a child and threw her hands in the air as if to strangle it.

“You open this gate right now. Danny Sullivan! I live here! You can’t just lock me out.” When she got no response, she stomped a distance away. Sam motioned for her to come closer again, putting her finger up as a silence. 

Sam pressed the button. “ _ Listen, Piper, I’m not opening the gate for you. _ ”

“I’m sorry,” Sam mentioned. “My name is Sam. I and my sister were here before? We kind of have an appointment with Nick Valentine.” That seemed to pique Piper’s interest. The man, Danny sighed.

“ _ I’m not gonna win this, am I? _ ” 

“Probably not.” The giant gate sprang to life, lifting up slowly. Piper looked at Sam appreciative. They all walked in. 

“Thanks. I appreciate it. Why don’t you stop by after you see Valentine? I think I have a story if you don’t mind.”

“Uh, sure.” And Piper sauntered into the gate. Sam looked at Ash, who was biting her lip and smiling. “What?”

“Do you like the quirky reporter?”

“What? No, of course not. She just seems the type to be trusted.” Ash rolled her eyes and they all walked in. They walked directly to the Valentine Detective Agency, knocking lightly before hearing Valentine’s gritty voice inviting them in. Nick was sitting at his desk. “You’re back. And I see Ash is better?”

Ash chuckled. “Not really, just playing the part.”

“No one knows what’s wrong with her. That’s just another goal. Find out what’s wrong with her is right under finding Shaun and killing the bastard that took him.” Nick nodded. 

“Well, Sit. Make yourself comfortable.” His assistant, Ellie walked over with a clipboard. Sam sat down and Ash pulled up a chair to sit next to her. Maccready stayed standing. “When you’re trying to find someone, the devil is in the details. Tell me everything you can, no matter how hard.” Sam nodded and shifted, closing her eyes to picture it in her head.

“We were in a vault when it happened. Vault 111. It was some kind of cryo facility.”

Ellie wrote something on her clipboard. “You two were in ice, huh? More importantly, you were underground. Sealed up. That’s a lot of obstacles to go through just to take one person. What else can you tell me?”

“There was a man and a woman. They didn’t say much., but I remember they called me the backup.”

“They called me the spare.” Ash cut in solemnly.

“So we’re talking a small team. Professionals. The kind that knows how to keep their mouth shut. Not sure what “the backup” or “the spare” means though. Anything else?”

“We’re looking for my son, Shaun. He’s less than a year old.” She felt her eyes tear up. “Why would anyone take him? He’s… just a baby.”

“A good question. Why your family in particular and why an infant? Someone would be taking on all of his care and a baby needs a lot of it. Anything else?” 

“Nate was murdered. He was trying to keep them from taking Shaun, my son. They just killed him. Without a second thought.”

“So we’re talking about a team of cold-hearted killers, but they waited until something went wrong to resort to violence. “This confirms it. This wasn’t a random kidnapping. Whoever took your son had an agenda. There’s a lot of groups in the commonwealth that would stoop to this level. Raiders, super mutants, the Gunners. And of course the institute.”

“The institute?”

“They’re the boogeyman of the commonwealth. Something goes wrong, everyone blames them. Easy to see why. Those early model synths of theirs strip whole towns for parts, killing everything in their way. Then you’ve got the newer models, good as a human, that infiltrate cities and pull strings from the shadows. Worst of all, no one knows why they do it, what their plan is, or where they are. Not even me and I’m a synth myself. A discarded prototype, anyway.” Sam shifted in her seat.

“Either way, we need to focus on finding Shaun.”

“You’re right. All this speculation is gonna take us off track, let’s focus. Did you see what they looked like, these kidnappers?”

“The man came right up to us.” Ash spat like she had tasted something foul. 

“Yea. Bald head, scar across his left eye.” Ash nodded. Nick’s fake eyes opened more. 

“Wait. It couldn’t be… You didn’t hear a name did you?” He asked her before looking at Ash. Both shook their heads.

“Do you think this man has Shaun?”

“Way too big of a coincidence.” He turned to his assistant. “What do we have on the Kellogg case?”

She walked back and opened a filing cabinet looking through it for a moment before pulling out a manila folder looking through it for a moment. “Yep. Description matches. Bald head, scar, reputation for dangerous work but no one knows who his employer is.”

“He bought a house here in town, right? And he had a kid with him, didn’t he?”

“Yea, that’s right. In the west stands. The boy was about ten years old.”

Sam sat up straight. “Was it Shaun?”

“No idea, but it’s possible.  You don’t know how long you were in that vault. Could be another kidnapped kid. Both of them vanish a while ago and haven’t been seen or heard from since.”

“Then let’s go.” Sam was ready to walk out the door.

“Let’s go. See if we can snoop out where he went.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you want something specific to happen, tell me and I'll think about adding it in if I like it.


End file.
